Mormon promises are easily made and easily broken or switched.
I received another e-mail from a member of our stake presidency, since apparently I am still on the mailing list. When deciding to officially resign (their way) or just ignore them, getting their spam definitely weighs in favor of making it official.
Anyway, he was asking members of the stake to participate in the next round of the "self reliance program". This program promotes group discussions about finding or improving employment, educational opportunities, financial best practices, or starting a small business. The content is mixed with mormon doctrine, so a more cynical person might see it as another brainwashing opportunity. For example, the absolute foundation of success for any of these topics is paying your tithing. What a shock.
At the end of the e-mail he said, "I promise that participating in the self reliance program will bless your life."
How can he say that? This is definitely a pie-crust promise.
A few years back I participated in the program as a stake goon. I saw a few people get a job. Most did not. A few people improved their finances. Most did not. No one started a business that is still around today. No one went back to school to improve their education. Less than half the people who started the multi-month program finished it.
How do you even measure success of a program like this? It can be done in the amount of blessings that you receive. These blessings need not be related to the topic that you were discussing, either. What are blessings? They are whatever you imagine them to be.
For example - - Getting along better with your family - Being at peace - More meaningful prayers - Improving your study and understanding of the scriptures - Paying your tithing - Attending the temple more - Improving your relationship with other members
What about jobs, education, finance, and business? Apparently that stuff matters less than the blessings. They are a bait-and-switch to get mormons to show up, study, obey, and write checks. These are not the types of blessings that the members thought they were promised.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/26/2020 07:07PM by Lowpriest.
True story: My brother-in-law was a never Mo. My sis divorced him for his inability to support her and their kids. He quit taking his kids to Mormon church. He started gambling by betting on sports games, golf, poker, and buying lottery tickets. He won the lottery big time, (more than 10 million dollars). He retired to Florida, remarried. He gets along better with everybody including his kids and his ex-wife. He never prayed, etc.
He is certainly more at peace and gets along better with members because the only members he associated with were the ones who skipped church to play golf with him. Now he can pay off his gambling debts, put his kids through college, and treat his buds to beer after nine holes.
Or, after 18 holes, and beers and buds with buds, change and head straight to the beach!
> What should I learn from this? >
That it pays to play? Or that play pays! Or HAPPINESS is in Living, while you're doing it? You've just got to find it, or in his case, make it (BIG). Time~
Leave the BS behind? Do what makes you happy? Be all you can be.
Self-reliance is one of the better ideas but the way it is conducted is so Mormon!
To be fair, some food storage, gardening, staying out of debt - these are all good things to teach people. As are helping people with resumes and job applications. During this crisis, I've used a lot of food storage. I wish other people had.
But you're right, they pull it all down with bad ideas about tithing etc which do create debt.
pure obedience. She said not to mention it to my daughter. Is this supposed to be a secret? My sister is furious. She is so close to being out, she just needs to take one more step and this is really making her angry. AND she hates her new ward. She is not happy about having to go back. She moved to a beautiful place in Hagerman? Idaho. Is that the name. Beautiful piece of property. And a bunch of cliquish mormons.
The mormons try too hard to be an expert at everything, like this program they are pushing that you talk about.
What I loved was the 4 page note I got attached to my front door talking about how the meetings will be run. Their ideas for how to do the sacrament just don't cut it. It isn't safe.
One simple thing the LDS church could do to help members be self reliant and learn the value of work, and earning an income, is to start paying members for the jobs they do. Why should anyone work for free? Elders are constantly expected to move people, and Relief Society are making endless meals for pregnant women, and feeding everyone for the funerals that never seem to let up. Having the priesthood shouldn't mean free moving services for every shmuck in the neighborhood. Then there's the youth who are expected to do service projects and go door to door collecting money (if they still do that). And how about the meetings to discuss more meetings and gossip about the members. I know that if a lawyer or social worker has to sit in a meeting they bill the clients for the time. Mormondom doesn't help anyone become self reliant it helps them learn how to become a doormat.